PS 

1842. 






Bjoftieimlaj 



B< )lll \ll.\. 



BOEGCDIH 










HI wm\\... 

; H, 1890 






RK 

1891 



^% 



Copyright, 1891, by The Witenagemote, 
of Detroit, Michigan. 




Ill Ml V 




(HEN I da ided in i old blood 
• from s< m 

i evenin| 
Dt, it ooc dtb, 

thic nrnenl iroald be 

cnh.'. ;ld hit upon 

cu5^ | the en- | 

I h ippened to | zens. 

which I t 
» announce at th< it it ii not my inten- 

tion to teach n in geoj 

■ lol Of in 

unkempt people wander* 

n the C to the more cul- 



4 Bohemia. 

tured wildernesses of western Europe. The people of this west- 
ern country fancied, or at least believed, that their visitors, 
wild, irresponsible, picturesque, and absolutely careless, had 
come from the land in the East known to them as Bohemia, 
and so they called the new-comers Bohemians. Thus the word 
Bohemian has ever since been synonymous with independence 
of thought and action, carelessness as to formalities, and indif- 
ference to laws. Later on the Bohemians cast off another 
branch of a similar character, to which the name of gypsies 
has been given. 

I simply give this brief historical reference to indicate what 
to me seems in all probability the origin of the word Bohemian 
in its late nineteenth-century significance as applied to the 
modern inhabitant of civilized and populous centers. 

In this connection I regret to say that the name Bohemian 
is used contemptuously by some, by others it is elevated to a 
pinnacle of honor and fame, and by few, very few, it is intelli- 
gently disposed of. There are varieties of Bohemians, just as 
there are varieties of scientists and varieties in idiocy. 

My purpose this evening is to pass over the days of the 
" Cat and the Fiddle " and the " Kit-Kat Club," and to take 
you among more modern delightful places and crowds the 
existence of which makes this life more bearable. 

It is said that Mirabeau, the great orator and revolutionist, 
was never so happy as when snubbing " Podsnappery," and 
that Thomas Carlyle called him, once upon a time, " The 
Swallower of Formulas." If that is true, I look upon Mira- 
beau as one of the great original Bohemians. 



lemia. 

: th.tt 

" ; 

It is 

I 

was 

:t with him tO 

and it (i 

■ 

• - r the m.imin 

en paini 
intly hut 

About this tim< 

nine), v.: 

in 1863: 11. 1 ! A . 

— queen of I ilad and 

• 

pulenl realm m 
th m. my troabadotu 

bundanl 
• 



6 Bohemia. 

favorite currency. Tall are the goblets of this famous king- 
dom, merry are its songs, variable its hours of breakfast and 
of supper. The Bohemian race love midnight and the short 
hours, and have a strong distaste for those habits of early 
rising which bring a man abroad before the world is thor- 
oughly aired." 

The London Athenceum (magazine), less poetic, but more 
of an oracle than its neighbor, said: "Bohemia, as we sup- 
pose every one is aware, is a cant term for a section of 
London, the part inhabited by clever fellows with much repu- 
tation and pretty women with very little, by the classes who 
are said to live on their wits — journalists and politicians, 
artists and dancers." 

(That 's a rather clever hitching up of the team, where 
journalists and artists are made to pull together with poli- 
ticians and dancers ; but it is not very painful, whether true or 
false.) 

Does Bohemia exist? you ask. Yes, it is here, there, and 
everywhere, disdaining the conventionalities of geography, 
and resenting the commonplace mathematics of chain and 
compass. ""Buried for centuries beneath stupendous accumu- 
lations of wilful mediocrity, pretense, and other rubbish, it 
has as yet forced itself only here and there to the surface of 
the sea of life, forming a vast archipelago which basks in the 
sunlight of intelligence and is rich with the fragrance of lauda- 
ble ambition, earnestness, honesty of purpose, and fair deal- 
ing — sweet blossoms to be laid at the feet of Nature. 

When first impressed with the idea of offering this topic 



I 'h ihemia 7 

for your con^ 

I tb.it :t 

hernia " When I ask 

«i th.a i ;. 

of the time. I think hei >r it 

:.«1 It 

n that ti 

'.ion in tl. ::il.i 

• 
tioi ig ; for the 

referred to U >f hundi , all 

ad. 
lent illustration of what I tound 

net. wri" unci 

tab'. tIu l 

• 
familiar to most it i. i^h 

U will bear with n. the 

ing be poor. 

With ii. . 

While golden m lit 

A! 



Bohemia. 

Unheeded by ; 
And, as they fly, 

i, 

Being dry, 
Sit, idly sipping here 
My beer. 

Oh, finer far 

Than fame or riches are 

The graceful smoke-wreaths of this free cigar ! 
Why 
Should I 

Weep, wail, or sigh? 
What if luck has passed me by ? 
What if my hopes are dead — 
My pleasures fled ? 

Have I not still 

My fill 
Of right good cheer — 
Cigars and beer? 

Go, whining youth, 

Forsooth ! 
Go, weep and wail, 
Sigh and grow pale, 

Weave melancholy rimes 

On the old times, 
Whose joys like shadowy ghosts appear ; 
But leave me to my beer ! 



hernia. 9 

a n 

n. 

thouf th 

of bi 

rk, a 

.... 

intim || } )UU 

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Geo 

one 



io Bohemia. 

Bohemian is a person who lives outside of society ; because 
Temple Bar proclaims Bohemia " the gayest, thirstiest, laziest, 
and least opulent realm in Europe "; in consequence of the 
cynical shot from the London Athenceiun, which says, " Bo- 
hemia is inhabited by people who live on their wits," and 
as a result of George Arnold's glorious dream over a glass of 
beer — for these things, and thousands of others like them, the 
public in general has a wrong opinion of this Bohemia, this 
perpetual tourney-ground, where strong, fair-minded man- 
hood and womanhood are always in the lists participating in 
the bouts with Snobbery, Deceit, Pretense, Avarice, Selfish- 
ness, and a hundred and one other phases of little narrow 
characteristics. It is here that those last-named combatants 
who do not leave the arena through fright before the fight is 
finished invariably meet defeat. 

Let me picture to you, as I have seen it, the popular public 
view of Bohemia. It is a realm where cynicism, irreverence, 
laziness, dishonesty, drunkenness, vice of all kinds, hold a 
continuous revel, with only a little leaven of brains as an ex- 
cuse for its existence. To reduce the picture, or rather your 
view of it as I hold it up, I '11 cover up a portion, showing you 
a fragment only — a fragment, by the way, which exists in 
replica in nearly every large city, and in some of the smaller 
ones, in the land. This fragment shows a club-room and its 
group of congenial spirits, all Bohemians, but of varying 
degrees of perfection. 

First, the very name of club-room is a positive nightmare 
to the public in general, so that when it is peddled about that 



hernia 



i i 



an espo 

ih.it lit t ! humanity, th- 

1 absolut* 

to that imp 

U tli.it t' 

Until tin public s- b mk 

drunken men lyii 

floo: CllllUll.it 

..... 
their rrightfil 

Thai 

a Bohcnr 

• it is believed to be true 1 
• • 
Tha: un then 

. the duty of Bohemia- 
I Use 

»ne in this ro that I h 

ulthat t: 

That is not my purpose. I 
**!» ll trenchlDg 00 their p] 

without making inroads o: tutc 



1 2 Bohemia. 

and successfully contradict the popular verdict. More than 
that, I believe they should make the defense whenever oppor- 
tunity offers, and, when necessary, should make the oppor- 
tunity, if it can be done decently. 

Instead of harping continuously upon the sad infirmity of 
Edgar Allan Poe, hold up his better life, and present to your 
opponent the transcendent genius of the man. Instead of 
listening quietly to attacks upon the vulnerable points of such 
men as Thoreau and Walt Whitman, hold aloft the glories 
of two of the greatest Bohemians this country has ever seen. 
Do not laugh and coincide with whomever says that "Mark 
Tapley " and " Dick Swiveller " were typical Bohemians, but 
contradict most earnestly, and as proofs on your side, and 
from the same source from which they have taken their al- 
leged types, show them the character of the immortal " Sid- 
ney Carton." When some pretentious, skin-stretched cynic 
declares that ever since Bohemia has existed the inhabitants 
thereof have been notoriously drunkards, libertines, and rois- 
tering scalawags, just direct their attention to the fact that 
through all time vices of that character have been very fairly 
apportioned among all people, Bohemian and non-Bohemian. 
Ask them to recall those periods in the past when the non- 
Bohemianistic gentry were not gentle unless they could ex- 
hibit their various mistresses and bastards; were not noble 
hosts until they had won the nobility by drinking their guests 
under the table. Tell the cynic that the titled drunkards 
and whoremongers of the past are not found in the same list 
with Goethe, Shakspere, Mozart, Byron, Shelley, Charlotte 



irmi.i. 
human kind, but human lrin< 

. \\ »lt Whitl slcr, 

km.. William i n. 1 1 ndred ip 

• th.it tip 

• annihilate the manhood and 

i Whitman or .in Am 

doc " held 

■ 
roorthn 

:;.il in Cfc 

d man, \\h<> .it on I 

With 

an ei 

■ 
at or 

3 



14 Bohemia. 

him at his best, and as a penalty now I have to give him alms 
each week. He 's nothing now but a regular Bohemian." 

I took issue at once with the man, and fairly dazed him by 
telling him that while the debased, filthy, and complete wretch 
who had just left us was not in any sense a Bohemian, I con- 
sidered a very prominent Detroit business man — giving his 
name — a good type of one grade of Bohemianism. Amazed 
by what he considered my impudence, my friend asked me 
to explain. I told the gentleman I based my estimate of 
the gentleman named, as one grade of a Bohemian, purely 
on my knowledge that he is a wealthy man who successfully 
manages a vast business enterprise, and upon hearsay evidence 
that he likes a tipple now and then, and is a student, especially 
of history ; that he is said to be, by those who know him best, 
a generous, benevolent old gentleman, while in the estima- 
tion of the general public he is an avaricious, penurious old 
pill. The good qualities, barring the business ability, were, 
I told my questioner, invariably found in the Bohemian ; and 
I added that possessing those qualities, and being oppositely 
estimated by the public, was almost proof positive of the pos- 
session of a Bohemianistic nature. 

Perchance you may some time be met with the opinion 
that Bohemians are such dreamers ! This will be said in a 
pitying, patronizing way, if you happen yourself to be a Bohe- 
mian. When you get such an opportunity, I would suggest 
that you retaliate with the sentiment that though the Bohe- 
mian may be a dreamer, he looks upon life as a reality and a 
privilege most precious; that he does not believe, as some 



hernia. 

h is .1 blu 

he 

l tli.it the< Umax 

■rial lolul 

riddles, be finds thai 

• ! ' '. . I 

that he h 
p«ll vt thai b 

mid 

't only 1. 

.it 
farm I .il would 

. 

it, I e anything ! 1 M ba 

grass, and th< 



1 6 Bohemia. 

His position being granted, he continued, "Well, I'd 
frolic around with those things, letting 'em have their own 
way for the pleasures they gave me, and then I 'd work to 
earn three or four dollars a week, enough to live on." 

Thus, you see, while our friend gave voice to a veritable 
dream, he was willing to work that the solution of the dream 
might be reached ; he was Bohemianistic to the degree that 
he would be fearless as to the morrow, and brave in thought, 
having confidence that each day would take care of itself. To 
this condition of mind, as he foreshadowed it, we who know 
"Davy, the dreaming Bohemian," must add that he is a 
thinker and a student, broad-minded and unpretentious, not 
fond of society as the world knows it, and absolutely frank, 
upright, and manly. 

I have even heard classed as a Bohemian a citizen of De- 
troit who, quite wealthy by inheritance, and possessed of a 
superb physique, has used up the days and blessings of na- 
ture in a continuous struggle to invent, and tell effectively, 
filthy stories. That has been his single aim in life. 

Compare such a person with a Bohemian — our friend the 
lawyer-doctor, E. C. S. There is a man who by hard work 
has not only acquired a safe competency, but who has become 
learned in literature, the sciences, and the law. He is a 
most devoted student and admirer of nature, companionable 
and broad-minded ; not a disciple of society, not a dreamer. 
Plain in habit and manner, and far beyond the grasp of pre- 
tense, he has a dreamland outside the realm of business, and 
there he revels. 



hernia. i j 

n whom I h i and ^ i 

man irh 

I the lull 

been m- mil tin* happening! about him 

.in 

nkandh( 

In 

f. although h< 

m in 1 1 1 1 - 

1 r 
ban 

■ • 

b »t limit 

the 

courage I mhood 



1 8 Bohemia. 

ings as a student of nature. Diffident to almost a painful de- 
gree, and with only his honesty both as a man and as an artist, 
teaching himself and punishing himself, he has finally reached 
a point where he sees light ahead and is supremely happy. 

Then there is that stanch, honest German, Detroit's only 
sculptor. We all know him as the father of one of our most 
noted young American painters. There is a man having a 
wide fund of knowledge, views most liberal, and a nature 
most gentle. Fond of all arts, he is also a passionate lover of 
the rod and gun. He has no use for conventional society, 
and yet he is most sociable. Fair, frank, and kind-hearted, 
he is an admirable example of the inhabitant of the little island 
of Bohemia which has come to the surface in this city. 

Where can be found a better Bohemian than is that well- 
known Detroit business man and art patron, who follows a 
scientific calling both for pleasure and material profit, but 
who finds his best and most satisfactory recreation in follow- 
ing up a special field in archaeology? Modest in manner and 
in claims, companionable and valuable as such, public-spirited 
and generous, he is first of all a student. Neither conceited 
nor pedantic, he is mentally a strong man. Not a society man, 
he is broad in his views as to society, and because the Wite- 
nagemotes see fit to have their pipes and beer once a week he 
would not complain any more than he would protest over a 
Communion Day service in some church, or the presence of the 
"old masters" by the side of his superb gift of antique curios. 

Speaking of churches reminds me of another excellent 
Bohemian in this city, the Rev. C. L. H , a man who is 



h I • i n i . i . 

hi^ 

II III 
trealthy, 

pur; 

that inn. : 

I I 

* i lt"u I in. . 
th.u the wrorld ii ni: 

rh.it lit- 
tle. Such a 

permanent pi 



20 Bohemia. 

such resident is in exact ratio to his possession of the qualities 
of ambition, sincerity, frankness, and honesty. 

By ambition I mean the quality which will prompt him sin- 
cerely to struggle for better mental and material conditions, 
and which will give him the courage (if in the struggle he 
finds he must let go of one or the other of his desires) to cling 
to his desire for intellectual advancement. 

When I say the Bohemian must be honest, I mean that he 
must be willing to confess ignorance when confronted by some 
proposition or condition about which he is ignorant; which 
will prompt him to wipe his eyes openly and aboveboard 
when caught at the theater crying over the play, instead of 
indulging in the sneaking blowing-of-the-nose equivocation. 

I do not mean that a Bohemian must be rude, or lack self- 
esteem, when I say he must be frank. I mean rather that he 
must have the quality which breeds convictions and the cour- 
age of those convictions, and which, also, develops the bul- 
wark of common sense to the sufficient degree that such 
frankness is not indulged in out of place. 

By honesty I mean that a man must want to be a Bohemian 
because of the good he may receive, the benefits he may en- 
joy, and the good he may bestow, believing that he can obtain 
those favors only by being in earnest about it. 

Is it not possible for a person wilfully mediocre in all quali- 
ties except an abnormal development of self-assurance and 
pretense to obtain entrance to Bohemia ? 

True, he may ; but not a permanent citizenship. While as 
a permanent citizen his assurance may be tolerated, he must 



I U >h< n 

n the pi.. 
II the imp 

• . : 
• that 

II 

the I 

but ■ 

: at 

N<» 
4 



22 Bohemia. 

erman, Emerson, Hammerton, Artemus Ward, Bob Ingersoll, 
Joe Jefferson, because, whatever else may be said against 
them, you cannot call them pretenders. They are men who, 
while they realized that it was possible to be successful as 
Mercutio, knew that it was not possible to win as Don Casar 
de Bazcui. 

Is it possible, always, to know a genuine Bohemian upon 
acquaintance ? That is a question which was once presented 
to me, and at the time I gave, without hesitation, an affirma- 
tive reply, qualifying the answer somewhat by explaining that 
by an acquaintance I meant a somewhat intimate acquain- 
tance, extending over a period of at least two years. 

I would make the same reply now to a similar question, 
with the single reservation of the one man known to history 
who came very near being a Bohemian, who was, possibly, at 
one time in his life a perfect Bohemian, and yet who may not 
have been at any time a Bohemian. 

King Ludwig II. of Bavaria is the single human puzzle who 
has alternately been credited to and cast out of Bohemia by 
the world at large. We all know that physically he was a 
fine figure, that his face was a handsome one, and that his 
knowledge of music, architecture, and the arts was almost 
phenomenal. We know that by birth he had any position, 
intellectually or materially, open to him. His course, when 
the fate of Germany depended on the action of Bavaria, is a 
matter of history, and the part he took in making Munich an 
art center second only to Paris tells of his possession of most 
of the Bohemianistic qualities to a remarkable degree. 



d, is the claim th.it be was .1 i 

I public demo thai tm 

And yet. when he tl * 
infinite, then 

the little Like in the mount 
bodies, enga. 

e or onh iian. 

thro 

> correct 
Bohemian k: 
can I 

nets met! 



2 4 



Bohemia. 



They are to the Bohemian big black beasts which are per- 
petually standing in his way. 

He would avoid them, but know T s no route save the well- 
beaten paths leading to their dens ; and so he goes, pitying 
the shin-bones and skulls of those victims who have gone be- 
fore him, his sole prayer in his helplessness being that when 
they get him for good and for all he will digest rapidly. 

Charles S. Hathaway. 







-A 



LIBRARY 




■ ■ 



